Six former West Virginia corrections officers have been indicted in the beating death of Quantez Burks, a pretrial defendant at Southern Regional Jail, in a “blind spot” not monitored by a surveillance system after he was restrained, handcuffed and in the custody of multiple officers.
Five of the officers are accused of playing direct roles in his death, depriving Burks of his civil rights, while another is accused of taking part in a coverup.
The six corrections officers join two others who already pleaded guilty earlier this month to depriving Burks of his rights. So a total of eight corrections officers have now been implicated the actions surrounding his beating death at the jail.
“We have no tolerance for abuse of any kind to be inflicted on inmates that are housed in our state facilities and we are committed to the safety, quality of life, and to the well being of those in the care of the legal system in our state,” stated Mark Sorsaia, secretary of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security.
Burks, 37, had only been in jail 24 hours. He had been arrested Feb. 28, 2022, and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer, allegations related to discharging a firearm at his home during an argument. He died March 1.
The central allegation is that after Burks tried to push past a corrections officer and leave the jail’s C-pod, officers restrained him in handcuffs and beat him in an interview room. The indictment alleges the officers forcibly walked him to the interview room that was already occupied by an inmate, who was ordered to leave.
The officers then repeatedly struck and assaulted Burks, the indictment alleges, before forcibly walking him to another location known as the A-pod and he collapsed on the floor. Even after that, the indictment alleges, the beatings continued.
After Burks was at first reported to have died of natural causes, his family pushed for their own autopsy that revealed a heart attack brought on by blunt force trauma.
Sorsaia said state officials alerted federal investigators to the situation at the jail.
“Under the law those charged with crimes are entitled to a full adjudication by our courts according to the Constitution. We will continue to provide full transparency and cooperation to law enforcement in this matter,” Sorsaia said. “Furthermore, we continue to extend our deepest sympathies to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.”
The Burks case has been a major aspect of ongoing concern about conditions at the jail. Thirteen deaths were reported over a year’s time at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, Raleigh County. A class action lawsuit was filed last fall over conditions at the jail and then settled earlier this month for $4 million.
The new grand jury indictment alleges that guards retaliated against Burks for an attempt to leave his assigned pod and then tried to cover up what happened.
Five former correctional officers — Mark Holdren, 39; Cory Snyder, 29; Johnathan Walters, 35; Jacob Boothe, 25; and Ashley Toney, 23 — have been charged in connection with an assault on Burks, identified in the court filing only by his initials.
All five correctional officers, as well as a former lieutenant, Chad Lester, 33, were also charged for covering up the use of unlawful force.
They join corrections officers Andrew Fleshman, 21, and Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 24, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens during a hearing on Nov. 2. Fleshman and Wimmer are scheduled for sentencing Feb. 22 and face up to 10 years in prison.
A component of their plea is agreement that they would cooperate with additional aspects of a federal investigation.
The grand jury indictment alleges that the day Burks died, Holdren, Snyder and Walters conspired with other officers to use unlawful force against him. The indictment further alleges that Holdren, Snyder and Walters struck and injured him while he was restrained and handcuffed, and that Boothe and Toney failed to intervene in the unlawful assault, resulting in his death.
The indictment alleges that all six defendants conspired to cover up the use of unlawful force by omitting material information and providing false and misleading information to investigators. The indictment also charges each defendant individually with engaging in misleading conduct toward another person to hinder, delay or prevent the communication of information of the possible commission of a federal offense.
The indictment alleges that Walters, Holdren, and Boothe submitted incident reports that contained false and misleading information, as well as omitted the fact that officers had assaulted Burks. The indictment also charges Lester, Holdren, Snyder, Toney and Boothe with making false statements to the FBI about the circumstances surrounding his death.
The maximum penalties are life in prison for each of the civil rights offenses, five years in prison for each of the false statement offenses, and twenty years in prison for each of the remaining offenses.
Earlier this month, after former jail guards Fleshman and Wimmer pleaded guilty to depriving Burks of his rights, the former inmate’s mother said more consequences would come.
Kimberly Burks, in statements outside the federal courthouse in Beckley, described a frenzy of group behavior at the jail.
“They act as a pack,” Burks said. “This is an ongoing investigation. It is not over. This is just the beginning. Nick Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman have been found guilty of conspiracy today. They are guilty.
“Based on their participation, the weakest link out of the whole crew, they all will get time and they are all going down.”